F I D O N E W S         Volume 16, Number 39             27 Sept 1999 
     +----------------------------+---------------------------------------+
     |  The newsletter of the     |   ISSN 1198-4589 Published by:        |
     |    FidoNet community       |   "FidoNews"                          |
     |          _                 |   1-717-732-6820     1:270/720        |
     |         /  \               |                                       |
     |        /|oo \              |                                       |
     |       (_|  /_)             |                                       |
     |        _`@/_ \    _        |                                       |
     |       |     | \   \\       |   Editor: Douglas Myers, 1:270/720    |
     |       | (*) |  \   ))      |           DougM@paonline.com          |
     |       |__U__| /  \//       |                                       |
     |        _//|| _\   /        |                                       |
     |       (_/(_|(____/         |                                       |
     |             (jm)           |   Newspapers should have no friends.  |
     |                            |                    -- JOSEPH PULITZER |
     +----------------------------+---------------------------------------+
     


                        Table of Contents
     1. EDITORIAL  ................................................  1
        Letters to Editor Policy  .................................  1
     2. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR  ....................................  2
        Delay in Z1C transition acknowledged  .....................  2
        Zone 4 site listing corrected  ............................  2
     3. ARTICLES  .................................................  3
        Echolist Controversy  .....................................  3
     4. NET HUMOR  ................................................  4
        Letter Perfect  ...........................................  4
     5. COMIX IN ASCII  ...........................................  5
        Famous Cows  ..............................................  5
     6. NOTICES  ..................................................  6
        Future History  ...........................................  6
     7. FIDONET BY INTERNET  ......................................  7
        Fidonet Via Internet Hubs  ................................  7
        Fidonet-related sites  ....................................  8
     8. FIDONEWS INFORMATION  ..................................... 10
        Masthead and Contact information  ......................... 10
     FIDONEWS 16-39               Page 1                   27 Sep 1999


     =================================================================
                                 EDITORIAL
     =================================================================

                           Letters to Editor Policy

     One of the "perks" of editing Fidonews is reading the mail which
     comes in.  Without this mail, putting together each issue would be a
     lonely chore, dry and uninteresting.  Each letter which comes in,
     however, breathes life into the ol' Snooze.  Suddenly, we have a
     READER!  Someone cares about what was presented - Fidonews hasn't
     whithered and died on hundreds of hard drives around the world!

     Naturally, I like to share the good news with the other readers of
     the Snooze through the "Letters to the Editor" column.  I was
     cautioned recently, though, by one reader who intended his
     correspondence to be private, that I should be careful in what I
     print.

     This is my dilemma:  I literally can't tell from most letters
     whether that letter is intended to be private or public.  I don't
     really want to betray anyone's trust by revealing something they
     don't want public, but I don't want to become so intimidated by the
     prospect that I consistently take the "safe" course and don't
     share anything.  After consideration, I figured I'd handle "Letters
     to the Editor" in the following manner.  Your comments would be
     appreciated.


                             WHAT i WON'T PUBLISH

     1.  Letters where you specifically ask me not to reveal the
         contents.
     2.  Letters which are obviously of a personal nature.


                             WHAT I WILL PUBLISH

     1.  Letters where you specifically ask me to publish.
     2.  Letters which relate to Fidonews or articles published therein,
         where publication shouldn't embarrass the author.
     3.  Letters from public echoes which are deemed of interest to
         Fidonews readers.


     Hopefully, the above policy will balance confidentiality and the
     objective of making Fidonews interesting reading.

                                    -Doug Myers


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     FIDONEWS 16-39               Page 2                   27 Sep 1999


     =================================================================
                           LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
     =================================================================

     Email from David Moufarrege <moufarrege@gmx.net>
     ----------
     You wrote under "What's not happening":

     " You don't deserve to be the top story in the What's Not Happening
     column... but it's been two and a half months."

     You are quite correct: The past three and a half weeks have been
     spend waiting for Bob Satti to return from vacation. The transition
     is now in process.
     ----------

     -----------------------------------------------------------------

     Netmail from Renato Zambo, 4:801/161
     ----------
     In FIDO1637.NWS:
     Zone 4:
       Region 80:  http://fidobrasil.8m.com  (Portuguese)
       Region 90:
         Net 904:  http://members.tripod.com/~net904 (Spanish)

     1637 had correct/updated sites for our zone.
     ----------

     Thanks for the correction, Renato.  I tried each of these sites and
     was able to get in.  Note that they are corrected in this edition :)
                                     - Doug Myers


     -----------------------------------------------------------------

     FIDONEWS 16-39               Page 3                   27 Sep 1999


     =================================================================
                                 ARTICLES
     =================================================================

                             Echolist Controversy

     The Echolist mechanism is currently under attack in the Z1_BACKBONE
     echo.  It's an old argument, actually, fueled by the fact that a
     moderator can find that his echo belongs to another individual under
     some circumstances.  The argument has been around for at least the
     last three elist keepers with no particular resolution, so I doubt
     that this round of arguments will result in any changes.

     The echolist, or elist, is a list of echo areas and their moderators
     along with other pertinent information.  It's important to zone 1
     echomail in that all major distributors use it to determine the
     legal moderator for such issues as adding the echo to the
     distribution list and making feed cuts.

     It's relatively easy for a moderator to establish a new echo in zone
     1.  All he need do is find an unused echo tag (the name of his echo
     as programmed into various tossers), and then list that plus a
     password plus other optional information in a letter to the elist
     robot.  The elist robot adds the information to its data base and,
     from that point on, the moderator with the password is the owner of
     that echo for the next six months.  So long as he remembers the
     password, he may extend the six months by continuing to send
     messages to the robot.

     Where the controversy occurs is that, if a moderator forgets to
     update, his listing expires after six months, and anyone may relist
     it with any password they choose.  Some individuals have made a
     practice of watching the expirations and then "grabbing" the echo
     with a simple letter to the robot.  If the original moderator is
     still around, he may consider the echo hijacked... though defenders
     of the system point out that the original moderator had plenty of
     time and opportunity to update, including a letter that the echo
     would expire in most cases, and that he simply failed to do his
     job... losing the echo in the process.

     Those criticizing the elist procedure have suggested a "grace
     period" during which the echo would fall from the elist, but it
     couldn't be relisted without the password.  A grace period of from
     one month to six months has been suggested.

     I personally agree with critics that such a grace period would
     dampen the enthusiasm of those who "collect" these echoes... but
     have they considered the cost of this result?  It would also make
     the relisting of an echo whose moderator has lost interest or even
     left Fidonet more difficult.


     -----------------------------------------------------------------

     FIDONEWS 16-39               Page 4                   27 Sep 1999


     =================================================================
                                 NET HUMOR
     =================================================================

            Letter Perfect

     Eye halve a spelling chequer
     It came with my pea sea
     It plainly marques four my revue
     Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.

     Eye strike a key and type a word
     And weight four it two say
     Weather eye am wrong oar write
     It shows me strait a weigh.

     As soon as a mist ache is maid
     It nose bee fore two long
     And eye can put the error rite
     Its rarely ever wrong.

     Eye have run this poem threw it
     I am shore your pleased two no
     Its letter perfect in it's weigh
     My chequer tolled me sew.

     -----------------------------------------------------------------

     FIDONEWS 16-39               Page 5                   27 Sep 1999


     =================================================================
                              COMIX IN ASCII
     =================================================================


                                          (__)
                                          (oo)
                                         / \/       ____________
        Famous Cows                     /   \===^__|            |
                                       _|___ /\  |______________|
                                      |=====| |   |            |
                                      *I   I| |   |            |
                                       I   I^ ^   |            |

                                      wolfgang amadeus moo-zart


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     FIDONEWS 16-39               Page 6                   27 Sep 1999


     =================================================================
                                  NOTICES
     =================================================================


                       Future History

       26 Oct 1999
          Thirty years from release Abbey Road album by the Beatles.

       31 Dec 1999
          Hogmanay, Scotland. The New Year that can't be missed.

        1 Jan 2000
          The 20th Century, C.E., is still taking place thru 31 Dec.

        1 Jun 2000
          EXPO 2000 World Exposition in Hannover (Germany) opens.

       15 Sep 2000
          Sydney (Australia) Summer Olympiad opens.

       21 Sep 2000
          10 years of FidoNet in +7 (xUSSR)

        1 Jan 2001
          This is the actual start of the new millennium, C.E.

       -- If YOU have something which you would like to see in this
             Future History, please send a note to the FidoNews Editor.

     -----------------------------------------------------------------

     FIDONEWS 16-39               Page 7                   27 Sep 1999


     =================================================================
                            FIDONET BY INTERNET
     =================================================================

     Last Updated: 9/25/1999

                         Fidonet Via Internet Hubs

     Node#      | Operator          | Facilities (*) | Speed | Basic Rate
     -----------+-------------------+----------------+-------+------------
     Zone 1     |
       10/3     | Brenda Donovan    | FTP,UUE,BinkP  | T1?   | $??/$10
       12/12    | Ken Wilson        | FTP            | T1    | $24mo.
       13/25    | Jim Balcom        | FTP            | 56k   | $20mo.
      103/301   | Joe Jared         | BinkP          | aDSL  | n/c
      105/8     | Russ Johnson      | FTP,BinkP,VMoT | 384k  | n/c
      106/1     | Matt Bedynek      | BinkP, FTP     | 128k  | n/c
      106/6018  | Lawrence Garvin   | FTP, VMoT      | 64k   | $5/mo
      107/451   | Andy Knifel       | FTP, VMoT, UUE | 33.6  | n/c
      140/12    | Bob Seaborn       | FTP            | T1    | $5/$20
      167/133   | Stephen Monteith  | BinkP          | 128k+ | n/c
      211/417   | Korombos          | BinkD,UUE,FTP  | T1    | n/c
      270/101   | George Peace      | FTP            | 6mbps | $20mo.
      271/140   | Tom Barstow       | UUE            | T1    | n/c
      280/169   | Brian Greenstreet | FTP            | 33.6  | $2mo.
      342/3     | Richard Dodsworth | BinkP,FTP      | 128K+ | n/c
      345/0     | Todd Cochrane     | FTP            | T1    | n/c
      396/1     | John Souvestre    | FTP,VMoT       | T1    | $10/mo
      396/45    | Marc Lewis        | UUE            | 33.6  | $26/yr
     2401/305   | Peter Rocca       | FTP,UUE        | T1    | unkn
     2424/10    | Alec Grynspan     | FTP,UUE        | T1    | n/c
     2424/101   | Kari Suomela   | FTP,VMoT,BinkP,UUE| T1    | n/c
     2604/104   | Jim Mclaughlin    | FTP,VMoT,UUE   | 33.6  | $1mo
     2613/404   | David Moufarrege  | BinkP,FTP,VMoT | 128k+ | n/c
     2624/306   | D. Calafrancesco  | VMoT           | 33.6  | n/c
     3632/84    | Robert Todd    |FTP,VMoT,UUE,BinkP | 57.6k | n/c
     3639/93    | Ross Cassell      | FTP, BinkP     | 128K+ | n/c
     3651/9     | Jerry Gause       | FTP,VMoT       | 33.6  | $3/$6
     --------------------------------------------------------------
     Zone 2     |
       20/11    | Henrik Lindhe     | BinkP          | ???   | n/c
       23/999   | Michael Kaaber    | BinkP          | ???   | n/c
       31/1     | Gabriel Plutzar   | BinkP          | ???   | n/c
      203/600   | Mikael Karlsson   | UUE            | 64k   | n/c
      221/360   | Tommi Koivula     | BinkP          | ???   | n/c
      246/2098  | Volker Imre       | BinkP          | ???   | n/c
      284/800   | Jeroen VanDeLeur  | FTP,UUE        | 64k   | n/c
      292/626   | Filip Ruymen      | Binkp, UUE     | 128K+ | n/c
      292/2003  | Eric Vaneberck    | BinkP          | 768k  | n/c

      301/1     | Peter Witschi     | BinkP          | ???   | n/c
      332/807   | Roberto Mascolo   | BinkP          | ???   | n/c
      335/535   | Mario Mure        | BinkP,VMot,UUE | 64k   | n/c
      335/610   | Gino Lucrezi      | UUE            | 33.6  | n/c
      344/201   | Julio Garcia      | BinkP          | ???   | n/c
      382/100   | Sinisa Burina     | BinkP          | ???   | n/c
     FIDONEWS 16-39               Page 8                   27 Sep 1999


      406/555   | Marius Kaizerman  | BinkP          | ???   | n/c
      406/555   | Ofir Michaeli &   | BinkP          | ???   | n/c
      423/81    | Milos Bajer       | BinkP          | ???   | n/c
      464/4077  | Serguei Trouchelle| UUE            | 19.2  | n/c
      465/204   | Va Milushnikov    | BinkP          | 33.6k | n/c
      469/84    | Max Masyutin      | VMoT           | 256k  | n/c
      480/112   | Adam Sarapata| FTP, VMoT, UUE,BinkP| 128k  | n/c
     2411/413   | Dennis Dittrich   | UUE,BinkP      | 64k   | n/c
     2446/301   | Lothar Behet | BinkP,VMoT,UUE,FTP  | 64K   | n/c
     2474/275   | Christian Emig    | UUE            | 64k   | unkn
     5030/115   | Andrey Podkolzin  | BinkP          | ???   | n/c
     5100/8     | Egons Bush        | BinkP          | ???   | n/c
     5020/1159  | Gennady Kudryashoff | UUE          | 33.6  | n/c
     --------------------------------------------------------------
     Zone 3
      633/260   | Malcolm Miles     | FTP,BinkP      | 64K   | n/c
      640/954   | Rick Van Ruth     | FTP,VMot,UUE,BinkP| 56K| n/c
      774/605 | Barry Blackford|BinkP,VMoT:10023,ifcico,FTP |33.6| n/c

     --------------------------------------------------------------
     Zone 4
      905/100   | Fabian Gervan     | VMoT,UUE,BinkP | 128k  | n/c
      902/18    | Javier Tejedor    | UUE            | 33,6  | n/c

     --
     * FTP   = Internet File Transfer Protocol
     * VMoT  = Virtual Mailer over Telnet (various)
     * UUE   = uuencode<->email type transfers
     * BinkP = front end mailer for TCPIP networks



     Please send updates, corrections and suggestions to
     Joe Jared, 1:103/301, joejared@osirusoft.com, and
     complaints to jarhead@osirusoft.com .

     -----------------------------------------------------------------

                       . -- -- -- -- --- -- -- -- -- .
                       |    FIDONET-RELATED SITES    |
                       ` -- -- -- -- --- -- -- -- -- '

     [This list includes all sites reported to the Editor as of September
     26, 1999.  Sites reported marked for deletion in the last issue are
     gone now.]

     FidoNet
     Homepage:     http://www.fidonet.org
     FidoNews:     http://www.fidonews.org   [HTML]
                   ftp://sstar.com/fidonet/fnews/
     WWW sources:  http://travel.to/fidonet/
     FTSC page:    http://www.ftsc.org/
     General:      http://owls.com/~jerrys/fidonet.html
     List server:  http://www.onelist.com/subscribe.cgi/fidonet-discussion

     Zone 1:       http://www.z1.fidonet.org
     FIDONEWS 16-39               Page 9                   27 Sep 1999


       Region 10:  http://www.psnw.com/~net205/region10.html
                   http://www.tnl-online.com/andy/rgn10.htm
         Net 103:  http://www.webworldinc.com/club103/
       Region 11:  http://oeonline.com/~garyg/region11/
       Region 13:  http://www.net264.org/r13.htm
         Net 264:  http://www.net264.org/
       Region 14:
         Net 282:  http://www.rxn.com/~net282/
       Region 17:  http://www.nwstar.com/~region17/
       Region 18:  http://techshop.pdn.net/fido/
       Region 19:  http://members.home.net/hbh3/r19
     Zone 1 Elist  http://members.xoom.com/echolist/

     Zone 2:       http://www.z2.fidonet.org
       Region 20:  http://www.fidonet.pp.se (in Swedish)
       Region 23:  http://www.fido.dk (in Danish)
       Region 24:  http://www.swb.de/personal/flop/gatebau.html (German)
         Fido-IP:  http://home.nrh.de/fido/ (English/German)
       Region 25:  http://www.bsnet.co.uk/net2502/net/
       Region 26:  http://www.nemesis.ie
          REC 26:  http://www.nrgsys.com/orb
       Region 27:  http://telematique.org/ft/r27.htm
       Region 29:  http://www.rtfm.be/fidonet/  (French)
       Region 30:  http://www.fidonet.ch  (German)
       Region 34:  http://www.pobox.com/cnb/r34.htm  (Spanish)
           REC34:  http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/4552/
       Region 36:  http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/7207/
       Region 38:  http://public.st.carnet.hr/~blagi/bbs/adriam.html
       Region 41:  http://www.fidonet.gr (Greek/English)
       Region 42:  http://www.fido.cz
       Region 50:  http://www.fido7.com/  (Russian)
        Net 5010:  http://fido.tu-chel.ac.ru/  (Russian)
        Net 5015:  http://www.fido.nnov.ru/  (Russian)
        Net 5030:  http://kenga.ru/fido/  (Russian & English)
        Net 5085:  http://www.fidonet.uz/ (Russian)  (No netscape)

     Zone 3:       http://www.z3.fidonet.org

     Zone 4:
       Region 80:  http://fidobrasil.8m.com  (Portuguese)
       Region 90:
         Net 904:  http://members.tripod.com/~net904 (Spanish)

     Zone 5:       http://www.eastcape.co.za/fidonet/

     Zone 6:       http://www.z6.fidonet.org
       Region 65:  http://www.cfido.com/fidonet/cfidochina.html
                   (Chinese)


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     FIDONEWS 16-39               Page 10                  27 Sep 1999


     =================================================================
                           FIDONEWS INFORMATION
     =================================================================

      ------- FIDONEWS MASTHEAD AND CONTACT INFORMATION -------

       Editor: Douglas Myers, 1:270/720, DougM@paonline.com

       Editors Emeriti: Tom Jennings, Thom Henderson, Dale Lovell,
                        Vince Perriello, Tim Pozar, Sylvia Maxwell,
                        Donald Tees, Christopher Baker, Zorch Frezberg,
                        Henk Wolsink

         ------------------------------------------------------

     FidoNews is published weekly by and for the members of the FIDONET
     INTERNATIONAL AMATEUR ELECTRONIC MAIL system.  It is a compilation
     of individual articles contributed by their authors or their
     authorized agents.  The contribution of articles to this compilation
     does not diminish the rights of the authors.  OPINIONS EXPRESSED in
     these articles ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHORS and not necessarily those of
     FidoNews and/or the Editor.

     Authors retain copyright on individual works; otherwise FidoNews is
     Copyright (C) 1999 Douglas Myers.  All rights reserved.  Duplication
     and/or distribution permitted for noncommercial purposes only.  For
     use in other circumstances, please contact the original authors, or
     the Editor.

                             =*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=

     OBTAINING COPIES: The most recent issue of FidoNews in electronic
     form may be obtained from the FidoNews Editor by file-request, or
     from various sites in FidoNet and the Internet.

     STAR SOURCE for all past issues:
     Available for FReq from 1:396/1 or by anonymous FTP from:

                        ftp://ftp.sstar.com/fidonet/fnews/

     Each yearly archive also contains a listing of the Table-of-Contents
     for that year's issues.  The total set is currently about 13 Megs.


        INTERNET USERS: FidoNews is available via:

                        http://www.fidonews.org
                        ftp://ftp.irvbbs.com/fidonews/
                        ftp://ftp.nwstar.com/Fidonet/Fidonews

        And in non-English formats via:

                        http://www.fidonet.pp.se/sfnews (Swedish)

                                   *=*=*

     FIDONEWS 16-39               Page 11                  27 Sep 1999


     You may obtain an email subscription to FidoNews by sending email to:

                        jbarchuk@worldnet.att.net

     with a Subject line of: subscribe fnews-edist

     and no message in the message body. To remove your name from the
     email distribution use a Subject line of: unsubscribe fnews-edist
     with no message to the same address above.

                                      *

     You may retrieve current and previous Issues of FidoNews via FTPMail
     by sending email to:

                        ftpmail@fidonews.org

     with a Subject line of: help

     and FTPMail will immediately send a reply containing details and
     instructions. When you actually make a file request, FTPMail will
     respond in three stages. You find a link for this process on
     www.fidonews.org.

                                    *=*=*

     You can read the current FidoNews Issue in HTML format at:

                        http://www.fidonews.org

     and    http://www.fidonet.dynip.com/public/fidonews/default.htm

     and in the FIDONEWS echo.

                            =*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=

     SUBMISSIONS: You are encouraged to submit articles for publication
     in FidoNews.  In general, send your articles in ASCII (text) format
     via netmail or email to the addresses listed above for the editor.
     The exact article submission requirements for the Fidonews software
     are contained in the file ARTSPEC.DOC, available from most Fidonet
     hubs.  However, you should concentrate on what you wish to say, as
     the editor will normally take care of the technical requirements.

     "Fido", "FidoNet" and the dog-with-diskette are U.S. registered
     trademarks of Tom Jennings, P.O. Box 410923, San Francisco, CA 94141,
     and are used with permission.

                  "Disagreement is actually necessary,
                   or we'd all have to get in fights
                   or something to amuse ourselves
                   and create the requisite chaos."
                                     -Tom Jennings

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